High-Level Vegas Official to Run Switch's New Smart City Unit

Switch, the data center provider best known for its massive SuperNap campuses in Las Vegas and recently also other markets is about to get a lot smarter.

The company just announced that Las Vegas city manager Betsy Fretwell will leave her job to work as senior vice president of the company’s new SMART division.

After 25 years in public service -- eight as city manager -- the move appears to be up Fretwell’s alley. During her tenure, the City of Las Vegas invested significantly in connected infrastructure to create an urban center testing area for autonomous and connected vehicles and recently tested the first driverless shuttle in the downtown area. Under her leadership, the city also moved to 100 percent renewable energy, something Switch says it wants all of its data center to achieve, like the pyramid-shaped data center in Michigan it recently launched.

In her new capacity, Fretwell will drive the strategic development, implementation and national expansion of Switch’s vision to integrate all aspects of smart city development utilizing its shared infrastructure platform. The company is planning a full roll-out of Switch SMART later this year.

“Betsy is a nationally recognized leader who has successfully brought together the strengths of both the public and private sector to achieve great strides in innovation and technology at the City of Las Vegas,” Switch executive VP, Kristi Overgaard, said in a statement. “Betsy will bring her unique experience managing the renowned City of Las Vegas for the last eight years to drive innovation and technology integration for cities, not only in Nevada, but across the country.”